Dish washer

ABSTRACT

A dish washer according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a cabinet which forms a dish washing space; a door which opens and closes an opened front surface of the cabinet; wherein door includes an out plate which is made of metal plate material and forms the front surface of the door and at least a portion of appearance of a peripheral surface of the door by being bent the front surface, an operating unit which is formed on the peripheral surface of the door so that a user operates by touch, a PCB assembly which is in close contact with a rear surface of the operating unit and on which a plurality of touch sensors detecting displacement of the operating unit are mounted, a mounting bracket which is mounted to be fixed to an inside surface of the out plate, and an elastic member which is mounted on the mounting bracket and presses and supports the PCB assembly to the a rear surface of the operating unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 and 35 U.S.C. §365to Korean Application No. 10-2016-0001761, filed in Korea on Jan. 6,2016, whose entire disclosure is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present invention relates to a dish washer.

2. Background

Generally, a dish washer is a device that removes food, dirt or the likeremaining on the used dishes by chemical decomposition reactions andmechanical hydraulic pressure adjustment and has various functions suchas a rinsing function, a disinfection function and a drying function inaddition to a dish washing function. Therefore, the demand for the dishwasher is growing trend.

A dish washer of which the various functions are simply operated andappearance is further improved and can be seen to be luxurious is beingdeveloped.

Typically, in the Korean Application No. 10-2007-0078276, a controlpanel is provided on a front surface of a door which shields a case ofthe dish washer and a structure in which is provided a button forpressing and operating by a user in the control panel is disclosed.

However, a structure for operating the door and displaying states of thedish washer is provided on the front surface thereof in this structureand thus there is a problem of the operation of the door beinginconvenient because the height of the dish washer is generally low.

In addition, the appearance of the dish washer has a complicated shapeby a number of buttons being exposed to the front surface of the door.Due to this, there is a problem of the entire appearance of the dishwasher being degraded.

SUMMARY

An objective of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide adish washer of which touch recognition rate is improved.

An objective of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide adish washer of which a operating portion is provided on an upper surfaceof the door.

An objective of the embodiment of the present invention is to provide adish washer of which appearance is made of metal material and whichprovides an operating unit capable of operating by touch on an edgeportion of the door.

An objective of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide adish washer which provides a stable supporting structure of a PCB fortouch input.

An objective of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide adish washer of which durability is improved in order to prevent damageand deformation due to an excessive touch operation.

A dish washer according to an embodiment of the present inventionincludes a cabinet which forms a dish washing space; a door which opensand closes an opened front surface of the cabinet. The door includes anout plate which is made of metal plate material and forms at least aportion of appearance of a peripheral surface of the door by being bentthe front surface with the front surface of the door, an operating unitwhich is formed on the peripheral surface of the door so that the useroperates by touch, a PCB assembly which is in close contact with a rearsurface of the operating unit and on which a plurality of touch sensorsdetecting displacement of the operating unit are mounted, a mountingbracket which is mounted to be fixed to an inside surface of the outplate, and an elastic member which is mounted on the mounting bracketand presses and supports the PCB assembly to the a rear surface of theoperating unit.

The operating unit is formed on an upper surface of the door.

A display unit on which operating information is displayed by a print ora surface treatment is formed on a surface of the operating unitcorresponding to a position of each of the plurality of touch sensors.

The mounting bracket is mounted to be in contact with the front surfaceand the peripheral surface of the door.

The dish washer includes a bending portion which is bent in the insidedirection of the door on the peripheral surface, and a screw hole whichis formed so that a screw is passed through the bending portion. Thescrew is fastened to the mounting bracket inserted into the space formedby the front surface and the peripheral surface of the door and thebending portion and thus allows the mounting bracket to be fixed.

A elastic member mounting portion which is formed in a shapecorresponding to the elastic member and in which the elastic member isaccommodated is formed on the mounting bracket.

The elastic member mounting portion is formed by a mounting portion ribhaving a height which is less than the height of the elastic member.

A reinforcing rib which supports the elastic member mounting portionfrom a lower side by extending to another surface of the mountingbracket which is in contact with a lower surface of the elastic membermounting portion is formed on the lower surface of the elastic membermounting portion.

A plurality of reinforcing ribs are formed along the elastic membermounting portion and disposed to be parallel to each other with a fixeddistance.

A height of the elastic member is formed to be greater than a distancebetween a bottom surface of the elastic member mounting portion and thePCB assembly.

The elastic member includes a rectangular shape of a support portionwhich is opened at the center thereof and which is disposed on a lowerside corresponding to between the touch sensors with each other, and aconnecting portion which connects between the support portions with eachother.

A center of the connecting portion is formed to be opened.

The connecting portion is formed to be less than the height of thesupport portion.

A display mounting portion in which a display for displaying operatinginformation of the dish washer is accommodated is formed in the mountingbracket, and a display unit which includes a set of a plurality of firstfine through holes through which light emitted from the display isselectively transmitted is formed in the out plate corresponding to thedisplay.

A depression portion in which the PCB assembly is accommodated by beingformed in a shape corresponding to the PCB assembly is formed on theupper surface of the mounting bracket.

The depression portion includes the display mounting portion, and anelastic member mounting portion which accommodate the elastic member bybeing disposed on the both sides of the display mounting portion.

A indicator hole in which a front indicator displaying an operation ofthe dish washer is mounted is formed on the mounting bracket. A throughhole through which light of the front indicator is transmitted is formedon the front surface of the door corresponding to the indicator hole.

An LED is formed on a side of each touch sensor in the PCB assembly. Asecond through hole is formed on a position corresponding to the LED inthe operating unit. Light of the LED is transmitted through the secondthrough hole and then is irradiated by the LED turning on according towhether or not the touch sensor detects.

A handle for an turning operation of the door is provided on the frontsurface of the door. A tilting module which includes a push rod isprovided on the mounting bracket, the push rod being selectivelyprojected to the rear surface of the door and pushing the cabinet toopen the door, and both ends of the handle is mounted on the tiltingmodule by passing through the out plate and the mounting assembly towork with the push rod.

the PCB assembly includes a sensor PCB which supports a periphery of thetouch sensor by a sensor hole being formed in the position on which thetouch sensor is mounted; a conductive foil which is provided on thefront side of the sensor PCB and connects a common contacts between thetouch sensor and the sensor PCB with each other; and a spacer whichbonds the conductive foil and the sensor PCB while maintaining a fixeddistance therebetween. A contacting portion which is projected to be incontact with the touch sensor is formed in the conductive foil.

According to a dish washer according to an embodiment of the presentinvention, there is an advantage of a general appearance being verysimple and excellence by an appearance of a door of the dish washerbeing made of metal material and forming an operating unit which iscapable of operating by touch on a peripheral surface, in particular,the upper surface.

In particular, the design is elegant by the configuration for operationswhich projects to the front surface of the door being removed and theappearance of the front surface is capable of improving even more bydisposing an operating unit for operations on the peripheral surfacethereof.

Ease of use may be improved by the operating portion being positioned onthe upper surface of the door and thus a suitable height for operationsbeing provided to the user.

The PCB assembly on which the touch sensor is mounted is in closecontact with the rear surface of the operating portion and the state ofbeing pressed by the elastic member is maintained and thus recognitionrate of touch operation of the operating unit is capable of improving.In other words, the height of the elastic member is greater than adistance between the mounting bracket and the PCB assembly and acompressive force is always provided on the PCB assembly and thus astate where PCB assembly is in close contact with the rear surface ofthe operating unit is maintained.

In particular, the displacement when operating by touch does not greatlygenerate due to the structure thereof in the upper surface of the doorof which the width is narrow and the edge is bent. However, theoperation by touch of the user by being in close contact with the PCBassembly may be effectively recognized.

The elastic member includes a support portion which supports between thetouch sensors and a connecting portion which connects the supportportions with each other and the load transferred through the PCB may bedistributed and thus prevents an excessive load form being transferredto the mounting bracket.

In addition, an opening is formed on the support portion and theconnecting portion and thus the deformation of the elastic member isfacilitated, and the load applied to the mounting bracket is even moredistributed and thus damage of the mounting bracket is prevented.

The lower surface of the elastic member mounting portion is supported bya reinforcing rib and even if repetitive and continuous load is appliedto the mounting bracket, a stable structure is maintained and thusdurability can be improved.

In addition, the elastic member has a structure that the supportportions are continuously connected by the connecting portion and themounting portion rib is formed on the elastic member mounting portionand easy mounting of the elastic member is possible and thus it can beexpected the effect of improving the productivity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a dish washer according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating an operating unit of the dish washer.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a door of the dish washer.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a coupling structurebetween a mounting bracket, an elastic member and a PCB assembly witheach other according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the PCB assemblyaccording to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of the PCBassembly.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the elastic member.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taking along line 8-8′ in FIG. 1.

FIG. 9a and FIG. 9b are schematic views illustrating a state change ofthe elastic member when operating the operating unit by touch.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, a specific embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the presentinvention is not limited to the embodiment providing the spirit of thepresent invention.

Another embodiment contained in the spirit range of the presentinvention or the other degenerating invention may be easily proposed byaddition, change, deletion, or the like of another construction element.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a dish washer according to anembodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in the drawing, a dish washer 1 according to anembodiment of the present invention may form appearance thereof by acabinet 10 and a door 20.

A tub which provide a space for washing, and a sump which positions inthe under portion of the tub and collects and stores a washing water inthe tub are provided in an inside portion of the cabinet 10 and a pumpand a flow path for flow of the washing water, and a nozzle forinjecting the washing water, and the like may be provided in an insideportion of the cabinet This inside structure of the cabinet 10 is acommon structure and therefore the detailed description thereof isomitted.

The front surface of the cabinet 10 is opened and may be opened andclosed by the door 20. A tub in the inside portion of the cabinet 10 maybe exposed when opening the door 20 and thus dishes for washing can beaccessible.

The door 20 is rotatably mounted on the front surface of the cabinet 10and may be configured to open and close the opened front surface of thecabinet 10 by rotating relative to a lower end. A handle 21 is providedon the upper end of the front surface of the door 20 and the operationfor opening of the door 20 is possible by grasping and pulling thehandle 21. The handle 21 may be mounted by passing through the frontsurface of the door 20 and the opening of the door 20 may be facilitatedby connecting with a tilting module 23 of the inside portion of the door20.

An appearance of the cabinet 10 and the door 20 may be made of metalmaterial in order to express the luxurious appearance. For example, theappearance of the door 20 and/or the cabinet 10 may be formed using asurface-treated stainless steel sheet.

An operating unit 22 which is operated for a driving operation of thedish washer 1 by a user and indicates an operation state of the dishwasher 1 may be formed on the upper end of the door 20. The operatingportion 22 may be formed on the peripheral surface of the door 20 andmore specifically may be formed on the upper surface of the door 20which is exposed to the outside. Accordingly, when the user stands inthe front of the dish washer 1, the operating unit 22 may be disposed ona proper height and a position for an operation.

FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating the operating unit of the dishwasher.

With reference to FIG. 2, describing the operating unit 22 in moredetail, the operating unit 22 may be defined as most of a region of theupper surface of the door 20, a display unit 221 is formed in the centerof the upper surface of the door 20 and a plurality of display units 222may be formed on the both sides of the display units 221.

The display unit 221 is for displaying the state information of the dishwasher 1 as numbers or letters, is formed as a plurality of first finepunching holes 221 a and may be formed by being combined as at least oneseven-segment shape. Information may be displayed by light emittedthrough the first punching holes 221 a in the display unit 221 and theinformation is displayed in a shape of the numbers or letters accordingto the combination of the first punching holes 221 a through which lightis transmitted.

The display unit 222 is for facilitating the operation of the user andmay be displayed in a shape of letter on the position corresponding tothe plurality of touch sensors 62 to be described below, respectively.The display unit 222 may be formed by a surface machining such asprinting or etching and it is possible to transfer information tofunctions which is expressed in the letters or characters and isoperated. In particular, the display unit 222 is formed on the positioncorresponding to the each touch sensor 62 and thus guides so that theuser can operate a correct position in which the touch sensor 62 islocated.

A second punching holes 222 a may be further formed on the upper side ofthe plurality of display unit 222 s. The second punching holes 222 a arefor displaying whether or not functions which appear on the display unit222 are activated or selected and turning on and turning off of thesecond punching holes 222 a 102131794\V-I or operations or a functionsset by the turning on of the second punching holes 222 a are capable ofbeing easily confirmed.

The entire surface of the door 20 may maintain a flat surface by such astructure of the operating unit 22 and in particular the door 20 whichis made of metal material may provide a concise and neat appearance.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a door of the dish washer.

As illustrated in the drawing, the door 20 may be formed the appearanceby the out plate 30 which forms the front surface and the peripheralsurface and a back panel 27 which is coupled with the out plate 30 andforms a rear surface of the door 20.

The out plate 30 may be made of stainless material and may forms theperipheral surface, that is the upper surface and both right and leftside surfaces, of the door may be formed by being bent many times. Abent portion 31 which is bent in the inside direction is formed in theend portion of the out plate 30. The bent portion 31 is formed so thatconfigurations of the inside of the door 20 and the back panel 27 may becoupled with each other.

A plurality of screw holes 311 are opened in the bent portion and thusthe back panel 27 and the mounting bracket 40 may be coupled. A rod hole312 in which the push rod 231 is accessed is formed in the position,corresponding to the upper end of the door 20, in the bent portion 31.

The mounting bracket 40 is provided to the upper side of the inside ofthe door 20. The mounting bracket 40 is positioned on the upper end ofthe bent out plate 30 and has a corresponding size and a correspondingshape in order to be in close contact with the front surface and theperipheral surface of the out plate 30.

Specifically, the mounting bracket 40 may be injection molding withplastic material. The mounting bracket 40 may have a transverse widthcorresponding to the transverse width of the inside of the door 20. Themounting bracket 40 may have a thickness corresponding to the thicknessof the inside of the door 20.

Accordingly, in a state where the mounting bracket 40 is mounted, themounting bracket 40 is in a state of being in close contact with thefront surface and the upper surface and the both right and the left sidesurfaces and supporting them. In addition, a space on which the tiltingmodule 23 and the main controller 24, the front indicator 25 and thedisplay 26 and the PCB assembly 60, provided in the inside of the door20 is mounted is provided.

A base 41 which is in contact with the front surface of the door 20 anda edge 42 which is contact with the upper surface and the both sidesurfaces of the door 20 may be formed in the mounting bracket 40.Accordingly, a space in which the tilting module 23 and the maincontroller 24, the front indicator 25 may be disposed is formed in theinside space of the mounting bracket 40 formed by the edge 42.

Handle holes 32 are formed in the front surface of the out plate 30corresponding to the both right and the left side ends and the both endsof the handle 21 by the handle holes 32 may be coupled with the tiltingmodule 23 which is mounted in the inside of the door 20.

The tilting holes 411 are provided in the base 41 of the mountingbracket corresponding to the handle holes 32 and the tilting modules 23are mounted on the position of the tilting holes 411. In other words,the tilting module 23 is fixed and mounted on the both sides of themounting bracket 40 and the end portions of the handle 21 are passedthrough the handle holes 32 and the tilting hole 411s and thus may becoupled with the tilting modules 23 in the inside of the mountingbracket 40.

The push rods 231 which work with the tilting operation of the handle 21are formed in the tilting modules 23 and when operating the tilting ofthe handle 21, the push rods 231 are projected by passing through therear surface of the door 20 through the push road holes 312. The pushrod 231 may more easily perform opening of the door 20 by pushing thecabinet 10.

An indicator hole 412 is formed in the center of the base 41 and a frontindicator 25 is mounted on the mounting bracket 40 corresponding to theindicator hole 412. The indicator hole 412 communicates with a thirdthrough hole (not illustrated) having a fine size which is formed topass through the out plate 30. At least one of third through hole isprovided and light emitted from the front indicator 25 is transmittedthrough the third through hole and thus status display of the dishwasher 1 on the front side of the door 20 is possible.

A main controller 24 for controlling an operation of the dish washer 1may be mounted on the center portion of the mounting bracket 40.

The elastic member 50, the PCB assembly 60 and the display 26 areprovided on the upper surface of the mounting bracket 40. The display 26may be fixed and mounted on the position corresponding to the displayunit 221 and may be supported by the mounting bracket 40. The elasticmember 50 is mounted on the mounting bracket 40 and the PCB assembly 60may be in close contact with the upper surface of the out plate 30, thatis the rear surface of the operating unit 22 by the elastic member 50.Accordingly, the display 26 and the PCB assembly 60 may be close contactwith the upper surface of the out plate 30, more specifically the rearsurface of the operating unit 22 by the mounting bracket 40.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a coupling structurebetween a mounting bracket, an elastic member and a PCB assembly witheach other according to the embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in the drawing, the display mounting portion 43 depressedto the lower side is formed on the center of the upper surface of themounting bracket 40. The display mounting portion 43 is formed in ashape corresponding to the display 26 and is depressed to the lowerside. A first wire hole 431 is formed on the display mounting portion 43and the wire connected with the display 26 through the first wire hole431 may be directed to the main controller 24 through the mountingbracket 40.

A elastic member mounting portion 44 may be formed on the both right andleft side surfaces mounted the display 26. The elastic member mountingportion 44 is formed in a shape corresponding to the elastic member 50and is formed in order to accommodate the elastic member 50.

The elastic member mounting portion 44 may be defined by a mountingportion rib 441 which extends to the upper side. The height of themounting portion rib 441 is formed to be less than the height of theelastic member 50 and thus it is prevented the mounting portion rib 441from being in contact with the PCB assembly 60 and thus interfering in acompressive deformation process of the elastic member 50. In addition,the mounting portion rib 441 may prevent excessive deformation of theelastic member 50 and may prevent release of the elastic member 50.

A depression portion 45 which is generally depressed may be formed onthe upper surface of the mounting bracket 40. The depression portion 45may include the display mounting portion 43 and the elastic membermounting portion 44. In other words, the display mounting portion 43 andthe elastic member mounting portion 44 may be positioned in the insideregion of the depression portion 45.

The depression portion 45 may be formed to correspond to a dispositionregion of the PCB assembly 60. Accordingly, the PCB assembly 60 may bedisposed on the inside region of the depression portion 45 in a state ofthe PCB assembly being mounted. A second wire holes 445 may be formed ona side of the depression portion 45. Accordingly, the wire which extendsfrom the PCB assembly disposed on the upper side of the depressionportion 45 passes through the second wire hole 451 and then may beconnected with the main controller 24 disposed in the inside of themounting bracket 40.

Meanwhile, the display 26 may include a plurality of LEDs 261 which mayemits light to the first punching hole 221 a and may include aconfiguration such as the seven-segment. The PCB assembly 60 on whichthe plurality of touch sensors 62 are mounted may be mounted on the bothsides of the display 26.

In particular, the operating unit 22 is formed by continuous bending ofthe out plate 30 and generation of displacement of the out plate 30 isvery low even if performing the touch operation since a width of theoperating unit is comparatively narrow.

Accordingly, the PCB assembly 60 has a structure which is in closecontact with the out plate 30 in order to effectively detect the touchoperation of the operating unit 22. To this end, the PCB assembly 60 isattached to the out plate 30 using an adhesive sheet 65 and then ispressed and is fixed using a jig or a clamp. The PCB assembly 60 ispressed and supported by the mounting bracket 40 and the elastic member50. Accordingly, the PCB assembly 60 may have a structure which iscompletely in close contact with the rear surface of the operating unit22 and may detect fine displacement by the touch operation of theoperating unit 22.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the PCB assemblyaccording to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 iscross-sectional view illustrating a structure of the PCB assembly.

As illustrated in the Drawing, the PCB assembly 60 may include a sensorPCB 61 on which the touch sensor 62 is mounted a spacer 63 which isattached to the upper surface of the sensor PCB 61, a conductive foil 64which is attached to the upper surface of the spacer 63 and an adhesivesheet 65 which is attached to the upper surface of the conductive foil64.

Specifically, the sensor PCB 61 is made of plastic material and a coppercoating 611 which constitutes a circuit is printed on a surface thereof.The touch sensor 62 which detects press displacement of the out plate byuser touch is provided on the front surface of the sensor PCB 61.

The touch sensor 62 includes a piezoelectric sensor and morespecifically a ceramic element 622 may be attached on the upper surfaceof the metal plate 621. The metal plate 621 may be elastically deformedaccording to a touch operating pressure of the out plate 30 of the userand the ceramic element 622 generates a change of amount of electricityaccording to this pressure. In the embodiment of the present invention,it is described that the shape of the touch sensor 62 has a circularshape, as an example. However, the shape of the touch sensor 62 is notlimited to the circular shape and may be formed in various shapes.

Meanwhile, a plurality of touch sensors 62 may be formed along thesensor PCB 61 and a sensor hole 612 on which the touch sensor 62 ismounted is formed in the sensor PCB 61.

The sensor hole 612 may be formed on a position corresponding to aposition on which the touch sensor 62 is mounted and may be formed bypassing through the sensor PCB 61 or depressing the sensor PCB 61. Thesensor hole 612 has a diameter which is less than the size of the touchsensor 62 and the periphery of the sensor hole 612 supports theperiphery of the touch sensor 62, more correctly the periphery of themetal plate 621, from the lower side.

When displacement is generated to the out plate 30 when operating thetouch operating unit 22 by such a structure, the displacement maytransfer to the touch sensor 62, and at this time, since the metal plate621 is supported on the periphery thereof, the touch sensor 62 may bemore easily elastically deformed and the pressure generated whentouching the touch operating unit 22 may be concentrated on the ceramicelement 622 and thus the touch of the touch operating unit 22 is capableof effectively detecting when touching the touch operating unit 22.

The touch sensor 62 and the sensor hole 612 may be formed on theposition corresponding to each display unit 222 formed on the operatingportion 22 and the pressure may apply to the touch sensor 62 through theoperation of the display unit 222 region.

A plurality of LEDs 613 may be mounted on the sensor PCBs 61. The LED613 is formed on the position corresponding to the second punching hole222 a and the light is irradiated by passing through the second punchinghole 222 a.

A spacer 63 is attached on the upper surface of the sensor PCB 61. Thespacer 63 is for defining a distance so that the sensor 61 and theconductive foil 64 may be bonded and may be configured as an adhesivemember such as a double-sided tape. The spacer 63 is formed a sizecorresponding to the sizes the sensor PCB 61 and the conductive foil 64.The spacer 63 may be formed to have a predetermined thickness so thatthe conductive foil 64 may be in contact with a common contact with theupper surface of the touch sensor 62 and the sensor PCB at the properheight.

A spacer hole 631 is formed on a position corresponding to the positionof the touch sensor 62 in the spacer 63. The touch sensor 62 mayaccommodate in the inside of the spacer hole 631 by spacer hole 631having a size which is greater than the size of the touch sensor 62, andthe spacer hole 631 is formed in order not to interfere with the touchsensor when elastically deforming the touch sensor 62.

A first LED hole 632 is further formed on the position corresponding tothe LED 613 in the spacer 63. Accordingly, light emitted from the LED613 is not interfered with the spacer 63 and directed to the secondpunching hole 222 a.

A conductive foil 64 is bonded on the upper surface of the spacer 63.The conductive foil 64 may be made of resin film material such as PETand may have a size corresponding to the sensor PCB 61 and the spacer63.

A conductor line 641 which may connect all the upper surface of theplurality of touch sensors 62 and the common contacts with each other isformed on the conductive foil 64. The conductor line 641 is printed withsilver material on the lower surface of the conductive foil 64 and theprinted surface of the conductor line 641 extends to be in contact withthe spacer 63 and at the same time to be in contact with the touchsensors 62 and the common contacts.

Meanwhile, an inner guide line 642 and an outer guide line 643 whichallow the touch sensor 62 to be attached on a correct position areprinted in the conductive foil 64. The inner guide line 642 is formed tocorrespond to the size of the ceramic element 622 and the outer guideline 643 is formed to correspond to the size of the metal plate 621.Accordingly, the ceramic element 622 is positioned on the inner guideline 642 and the metal plate 621 is positioned on the outer guide line643 in a state where the touch sensor 62 is mounted on the correctposition.

A mesh 644 which includes grid-like lines may be further formed on theentire surface of the conductive foil 64 and noise may be reduced whengenerating a signal by the mesh 644.

A resistance to the deformation by the conductor line 641 when deformingthe out plate is minimized since a mesh 644 is not formed between theouter guide line 643 and the inner guide line 642.

Meanwhile, a contacting portion 645 may be formed on the center of theinner guide line 642. The contacting portion 645 may be printed on therear surface of the conductive foil 64. The contacting portion 645 isprinted in a shape such as a circle shape or a point shape having apredetermined diameter and is capable of pressing the center of theceramic element 622. Accordingly, the touch operation is moreeffectively recognized by the pressing force being capable of beingconcentrated toward the center of the touch sensor 62 when pressing theout plate 30.

A second LED hole 646 is further formed on the position corresponding tothe LED 613 in the conductive foil 64. Accordingly, light emitted fromthe LED 613 is not interfered with the conductive foil 64 and directedto the second punching hole 222 a.

A adhesive sheet 65 is provided on the upper surface of the side plate64. The adhesive sheet 65 may be formed with material such as adouble-sided tape and thus the entirety of the PCB assembly 60 includingthe conductive foil 64 is capable of being bonded on the rear surface ofthe out plate 30.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the elastic member.

As illustrated in the drawing, the elastic member 50 may be made ofrubber or synthetic resin material and material having elasticity.Accordingly, the elastic member 50 may be in contact with the rearsurface of the PCB assembly 60 and then may be pressed to the side ofoperating unit 22 and be in close contact with the operating unit 22. Inaddition, the elastic member 50 may distribute the pressure which istransferred through the PCB assembly 60 when operating by touch by theelastic force of the structure itself.

Specifically, the elastic member 50 is generally formed in a shape suchas a ladder and the support portion 51 and the connecting portion 52 arearranged to continuously repeat. Both the support portion 51 and theconnecting portion 52 may be formed in a rectangular shape.

More specifically, the support portion 51 has an opening 511 having arectangular shape on the center thereof and may be formed with acorresponding size to be capable of accommodating in the elastic membermounting portion 44. The support portion 51 is formed on the positionwhich is greater than the position of the mounting portion rib 441 ofthe elastic member mounting portion 44.

The lower surface of the support portion 51 is in contact with thebottom surface of the elastic member mounting portion 44 and the uppersurface of the support portion 51 pressurizes the PCB assembly by beingin contact with the lower surface of the PCB assembly 60. Accordingly,the support portion 51 becomes a compressed state and allows the PCBassembly 60 to be in close contact with the out plate 30.

At this end, the height of the support portion 51 may be formed to begreater than the distance between the elastic member mounting portion 44and the PCB assembly 60 in a state where the mounting bracket 40 and thePCB assembly 60 is mounted on the inside of the door 20. In other words,a state where the elastic member 50 is compressed or a contact stateimmediately before compressing is maintained in a state where all themounting bracket 40, the PCB assembly 60 and the elastic member 50.

The support portion 51 is positioned between the plurality of touchsensors 62 mounted on the sensor PCB 61. In other words, the deformationis concentrated on the side of the touch sensor 62 when touching theoperating unit 22 by the touch sensor 62 may be disposed between theneighboring support portions 51.

a connecting portion 52 is formed between the support portions 51. Theconnecting portion 52 is for connecting the neighboring support portions51 and has a rectangular shape and an opening 521 is formed on thecenter thereof. The connecting portion 52 is provided on the lower sidecorresponding to the sensor PCB 61 and may be formed by the same numberas the number of the sensor PCB 61.

Accordingly, the connecting portion 52 may be formed on a position whichis less than the height of the support portion 51 and the mountingportion rib 441 since it is sufficient if the connecting portion 52 hasa structure which can connect the supporting structures 51. Theconnecting portion 52 has the same width as the width of the supportportion 51 and thus the connecting portion 52 may be mounted on theinside of the elastic member mounting portion 44.

The connecting portion 52 has a function connecting between the supportportions 51 and at the same time has a function which facilitates theelastic deformation of the support portions 51 in the lateral directionand thus load applied to the support portion 51 may be distributed.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taking along line 8-8′ in FIG. 1.

As illustrated in the drawing, the mounting bracket 40 is mounted on theupper portion of the inside of the door 20 and the mounting bracket 40is in close contact with the inside surface of the out plate 30. Theelastic member 50 supports the PCB assembly 60 from the lower side in astate of being accommodated in the inside of the elastic member mountingportion 44.

The PCB assembly 60 is bonded and fixed to the rear surface of theoperating portion 22 while being pressurized and supported by theelastic member 50. At this time, the elastic member 50 becomes a statewhere the support portion 51 supports the lower surface of the PCBassembly 60 and thus becomes a state where a compressive force isapplied even before touch operation.

In other words, the elastic member 50 has a height which is greater thanthe distance between the upper surface of the mounting bracket 40 andthe rear surface of the PCB assembly 60. Accordingly, when assemblingthe mounting bracket 40 and the elastic member 50 and the PCB assembly60, the elastic member 50 becomes a state where the compressive force isalways applied and thus the PCB assembly 60 is in close contact with therear surface of the operating unit 22.

Meanwhile, a reinforcing rib 46 may be further formed on an edge whichforms the upper surface and the front surface of the mounting bracket40. The reinforcing rib 40 connects the lower surface on which theelastic member mounting portion 44 is formed and the front surface ofthe inside of the mounting bracket 40. Accordingly, the mounting bracket40 is supported in order not to be deformed or be damaged even if theuser presses the operating unit 22 with an excessive force.

Hereinafter, a touch operation of the dish washer having the structureas described above will be described.

FIG. 9a and FIG. 9b are schematic views illustrated a state change ofthe elastic member when operating the operating unit by touch.

A user may operate the operating unit 22 in order to operate a drivingof the dish washer 1.

The displacement of the out plate 30 is not generated before operationof the operating portion 22 as illustrated in FIG. 9a . Accordingly,signal is no longer detected at the touch sensor 62. The PCB assembly 60is capable of maintaining a state of being always in close contact withthe rear surface of the operating portion 22 since the elastic member 50is in a state of being compressed.

The user can confirm the operating state through light displayed on thesecond punching hole 222 a of the operating portion 22 or the displayunit 221 of the dish washer and then operates by pressing the displayunit 222 region of the operating unit 22 for a desired operation.

As in FIG. 9b , when the user touches a display unit region of theoperating unit 22, fine displacement is generated in the out plate 30.The touch sensor 62 recognizes the touch operation in response to thedisplacement of the out plate 30.

At this time, the support portion 51 may be further compressed by thepressing force by the user and the support portion 51 is freely deformedin the lateral direction due to the nature of its shape. Accordingly,even if the user presses the support portion 51 with an excessive force,load may be distributed by the deformation of the support portion.Damage or deformation of the elastic member mounting portion 44 or themounting bracket 40 may be detected by the distribution of the load.

In addition, in a case where the user press between the display unit 222and a region which is not the display unit 222 or an adjacent positionto the display unit 222, a position which is pressed by the neighboringsupport portion 51 is capable of supporting and the load is capable ofbeing distributed by the support portion 51. Therefore, it is preventedmisrecognition of the touch sensor 62.

Naturally, the PCB assembly 60 maintains the state of being in closecontact with the out plate by the compressive force which is basicallyprovided despite the deformation of the support portion 51. When thetouch operation is terminated, the support portion 51 returns to anoriginal shape thereof by the elastic restoring force.

What is claimed is:
 1. A dish washer, comprising; a cabinet forming adish washing space; and a door which opens and closes a front surface ofthe cabinet; wherein the door includes: a metal out plate forming thefront surface of the door and at least a portion of a peripheral surfaceof the door, wherein the peripheral surface of the door is formed bybending the metal out plate; an operating unit formed on the peripheralsurface of the door, a PCB assembly, in close contact with a rearsurface of the operating unit, on which a plurality of touch sensorsdetecting displacement of the operating unit are mounted, a mountingbracket mounted to an inside surface of the out plate, and an elasticmember, mounted on the mounting bracket, pressing and supporting the PCBassembly to the rear surface of the operating unit.
 2. The dish washerof claim 1, wherein the operating unit is formed on an upper surface ofthe door.
 3. The dish washer of claim 1, further comprising: a displayunit, for displaying operating information, disposed on a surface of theoperating unit corresponding to a position of each of the plurality oftouch sensors.
 4. The dish washer of claim 1, wherein the mountingbracket is in contact with the front surface and the peripheral surfaceof the door.
 5. The dish washer of claim 4, further comprising: abending portion which is bent in the inside direction of the door on theperipheral surface, and a screw hole which is formed so that a screw ispassed through the bending portion, wherein the screw is fastened to themounting bracket and the bending portion and thus allows the mountingbracket to be fixed.
 6. The dish washer of claim 1, wherein an elasticmember mounting portion which is formed in a shape corresponding to theelastic member and in which the elastic member is accommodated is formedon the mounting bracket.
 7. The dish washer of claim 6, wherein theelastic member mounting portion is formed by a mounting portion ribhaving a height which is less than the height of the elastic member. 8.The dish washer of claim 6, wherein a reinforcing rib which supports theelastic member mounting portion from a lower side by extending toanother surface of the mounting bracket which is in contact with a lowersurface of the elastic member mounting portion is formed on the lowersurface of the elastic member mounting portion.
 9. The dish washer ofclaim 8, wherein a plurality of reinforcing ribs are formed along theelastic member mounting portion and disposed to be parallel to eachother with a fixed distance.
 10. The dish washer of claim 1, wherein aheight of the elastic member is formed to be greater than a distancebetween a bottom surface of the elastic member mounting portion and thePCB assembly.
 11. The dish washer of claim 1, wherein the elastic memberincludes: a rectangular shape of a support portion which is opened atthe center thereof and which is disposed on a lower side correspondingto a region between the touch sensors, and a connecting portion whichconnects the support portions.
 12. The dish washer of claim 11, whereina center of the connecting portion is formed to be opened.
 13. The dishwasher of claim 11, wherein the connecting portion is formed to be lessthan the height of the support portion.
 14. The dish washer of claim 1,wherein a display mounting portion, accommodating a display fordisplaying operating information of the dish washer, is formed in themounting bracket, and wherein a display unit which includes a pluralityof first fine through-holes through which light emitted from the displayis selectively transmitted is formed in the out plate corresponding tothe display.
 15. The dish washer of claim 14, wherein a depressionportion is formed on the upper surface of the mounting bracket andaccommodates the PCB assembly.
 16. The dish washer of claim 15, whereinthe depression portion includes a display mounting portion, and anelastic member mounting portion which accommodate the elastic member bybeing disposed on the both sides of the display mounting portion. 17.The dish washer of claim 1, wherein an indicator hole, in which a frontindicator displaying an operation of the dish washer is mounted, isformed on the mounting bracket, and wherein a through-hole through whichlight of the front indicator is transmitted is formed on the frontsurface of the door corresponding to the indicator hole.
 18. The dishwasher of claim 1, wherein an LED is disposed on a side of each touchsensor in the PCB assembly, and wherein a second through-hole is formedat a position corresponding to the LED in the operating unit, such thatlight from the LED is transmitted through the second through-hole. 19.The dish washer of claim 1, wherein a handle for an turning operation ofthe door is provided on the front surface of the door, wherein a tiltingmodule which includes a push rod is provided on the mounting bracket,the push rod being selectively projected to the rear surface of the doorand pushing the cabinet to open the door, and wherein both ends of thehandle is mounted on the tilting module by passing through the out plateand the mounting assembly to work with the push rod.
 20. The dish washerof claim 1, wherein the PCB assembly includes: a sensor PCB whichsupports a periphery of the touch sensor; a conductive foil which isprovided on the front side of the sensor PCB and connects commoncontacts between the touch sensor and the sensor PCB with each other;and a spacer which bonds the conductive foil and the sensor PCB whilemaintaining a fixed distance therebetween, wherein a contacting portionwhich is projected to be in contact with the touch sensor is formed inthe conductive foil.